Since the advent of the sanitary napkins, which was a breakthrough in the art of sanitary devices, the problem of disposal of said articles has been one of the most cumbersome features in connection with the use of these devices, because the structure, size and composition of said devices do not lend themselves to an expedite disposal of the same, either by flusing in a toilet or the like, or by disposing thereof through garbage deposits and the like, which has not been regarded as very adequate in view of the unneatness of this type of articles after used. The necessity of wrapping said goods after use in imprevious bags or the like, has created a nuissance for the users and has encouraged some workers to carry out research in connection with the provision of means for disposing of sanitary napkins in the past, without however accomplishing any remarkable success in this field.
For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,423 to Fraser, a sanitary napkin is provided with a folded disposable wrapper secured to the outer or garment-side of the pad, said wrapper having the form of a bag having rectangular inner and outer sheets marginally connected by triangular side sheets, one end of said wrapper being releasably connected to the pad whereby, after use of the sanitary napkin, the opposite end portions of the soiled side of the napkin are folded together and the releasable end of the outer sheet of the wrapper is released and pulled around the folded pad to the opposite side, turning the bag inside-out around the pad. An adhesive tape is provided to seal the package for disposal. Although this device solves the problem of disposing of sanitary napkins by wrapping the same in some sort of a bag, the provision of said bag on one of the surfaces of the sanitary napkin, in the form of a completely independent feature of the napkin, produces very serious problems of manufacture, particularly in mass production processes like those used in connection with this type of goods, and on the other hand produces discomfort in the use of the device, as well as certain other disadvantages such as the fact that this bag or wrapper is attached to the napkin in the form of an external patch which renders it impossible to provide the garment side of the napkin with the customary adhesive band to secure said napkin to a garment of the user.
These drawbacks shown by the device of Fraser, and particularly the serious difficulties that may be encountered in connection with mass production processes for attaching the independent and superposed bag to the sanitary napkin, have rendered this device as rather impopular and as not quite acceptable to manufacturers of sanitary napkins up to the present date.
One other solution for the above described problem has been given by Srinivasan et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,567, who provide a sanitary napkin with an adhesive element for attaching to an undergarment of the user, and having a plastic sheet both for protecting the napkin and the adhesive element prior to use and for disposing of the napkin after use. The napkin is provided with a wrapper sheet of flexible material overlying the napkin on its two faces and side edges, which sheet is maintained in its place, prior to use, by the adhesive elements thereof or alternatively by the use of a suitable adhesive band therefor. This same wrapping of the unused napkin serves as a wrapping for disposing of the napkin after use, but the problem with this device is that the wrapping is completely independent and separate from the napkin itself, and merely serves as a wrapping prior to use, which must be completely removed from the napkin in order to enable use thereof, and must be kept appart in the purse of the user or the like, to be thereafter used as a wrapping for the already used sanitary napkin, thus implying the preservation of said wrapping separately from the napkin, which is very frequently a difficult task, particularly for ladies in sport garments who do not carry a purse or the like. The device of Srinivasan et al, therefore, does not solve in any manner the problem of providing an integrated device for disposing of sanitary napkins, and merely substitutes the usual bag or wrapper of the sanitary napkin as sold, by a sheet wrapping which is unfolded to release the napkin for use, and which must be kept separate from the napkin to be thereafter reused in wrapping the used napkin for disposal thereof. Therefore, the device of Srinivasan et al, does not produce any improvement in the means for disposal of sanitary napkins whatsoever.
One other attempt to solve this problem was carried out by Black, U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,336, with a solution which is very similar to that provided by Fraser above, namely, by attaching, to the garment-side surface of the sanitary napkin, a folded receptacle which is thereafter unfolded and used for disposal of the already used sanitary napkin. The only difference between the device of Black and the device of Fraser described above, is that the device of Black is provided attached to the garment-side of the sanitary napkin, over the adhesive band which is used to secure said napkin to an undergarment of the user, which implies that this sack may be provided also for sanitary napkins with adhesive bands for attaching to an undergarment. In accordance with Black, attached to the usual pad type sanitary napkin is a sack-like container or bag made of thin, foldable, moisture-proof material. The bag is attached so that it may be opened to a position to receive the napkin, whereafter the bag with the napkin therein may then be closed for disposal. The device of Black, however, presents the very important drawback that it must be attached over the garment-side face of the sanitary napkin, and covering an important portion of the adhesive band or bands which are used to attach the napkin to the undergarment of the wearer, whereby the efficiency of said adhesive band is considerably diminished, thus producing a drawback which may be regarded as more serious as the problem of disposing of the sanitary napkin after use. On the other hand, the sack or bag of Black, although attached by means of adhesive to one face of the sanitary napkin, is completely external and independent device much like the device of Fraser described above, and also constitutes a condition of discomfort to the wearer, and presents the additional drawback with respect to the device of Fraser, that the bag or sack must be completely teared out from the surface of the sanitary napkin, to thereby produce a completely separate and independent sack-like deposit wherein the sanitary napkin is introduced for disposal. The superposition of this folded sack-like deposit, renders it an independent product of manufacture with respect to the sanitary napkin, whereby this also renders mass production of sanitary napkins containing said sacks very cumbersome and inefficient, and thus the device of Black has also not gained any important proportion of the market in this field.
One other attempt to solve the problem of disposing of sanitary napkins is described and claimed by Baum, U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,689, by providing a sanitary napkin with a baffle approximately twice the width of the conventional baffle, which is normally placed on the garment-side of the face of the sanitary napkin. The baffle is folded over onto itself with the garment facing side having a garment suspension adhesive pattern. After the napkin has been used, the folded portion is unfolded and placed over the top of the napkin where it is adhesively attached by the garment suspension adhesive pattern placed on the garment facing side of the folded portion of the baffle. With this means, the sanitary napkin, after use, is wrapped around the two faces thereof and the two longitudinal edges thereof, but only to form some sort of a roll without any protectin or covering on the longitudinal edges of the napkin, whereby this device is useful only to avoid the user having to touch the soiled napkin surface when disposing of the same. In other words, although the device of Baum may be regarded as suitable for mass production techniques, it is also quite true that said device does not solve the problem of hermetically wrapping the used sanitary napkin for disposal thereof and instead only provides means to dispose of the sanitary napkin by covering the used portion of the same without the user having to touch the soiled napkin surface.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,450, on the other hand, Reich describes a disposal means for a sanitary napkin, which merely comprises providing a sanitary napkin with an adhesive on at least one end of the same at the body facing side. The adhesive area is provided at a portion of the end extending beyond the absorbent layer and the wrap in this area is folded over to prevent attachment to the body. After the napkin has been used and is ready to be discarded, the wearer opens the folded end and attaches the adhesive surface to the opposite end so that the napkin, when attached, resembles a ring or circle. The used portion of the napkin is at least partially visually screened and there is virtually no compression of the absorbent layer whereby there is no problem of strike-back. The user, on the other hand, does not have to touch the soiled portions of the napkin prior to disposal. The device of Reich, therefore, may not be regarded as a true wrapping for the used napkin for disposal thereof, but rather as a means, similar to the device of Baum, to avoid the necessity for the wearer to touch the soiled surface of the napkin when disposing thereof.
Therefore, all the prior art devices for disposing of used sanitary napkins have left much to desire and the existence of so many types of such devices which may be regarded as inefficient, difficultly manufactured and/or generators or discomfort or inefficiency in the attachment of the napkin to the undergarment of the wearer, proves that for long a device for disposing of a used sanitary napkin has been sought, which may solve the above described problems of disposal, without however, affecting other advantageous characteristics thereof. Up to the present date, however, no worker in the art has been able to produce such a device.